


Yeah, But For The Fall

by anD_nOw_tHe_wEaThEr (CryMeARiver3465)



Series: Way Down We Go [3]
Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: A+ Parenting is my favorite tag, Alden DID NOT cheat on Della, Alden POV, Alden Vacker's A+ Parenting, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beguiler!Alden, Beguiler!Fitz, Biana Vacker is a good bro, Biana is a QUEEN, Biana-centric, F/M, Gen, He did everything else, Headcanon Accepted, How Do I Tag, In this house we do not like Alden Vacker, The Author Regrets Nothing, Unreliable Narrator, Vacker Temper(TM), Violent Biana, We STAN Biana Vacker, though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 03:26:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30049182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CryMeARiver3465/pseuds/anD_nOw_tHe_wEaThEr
Summary: No, there is something different about Fitz. Biana is one of the only people who can see it. Everyone else seems to be selectively blind.Or maybe, just beguiled.And Biana Vacker has had enough of the lies that her family has to offer. She's going to get to the bottom of this.~~AKA: Fitz is a beguiler, but Alden never cheated on Della. He wouldn't do that. He'd do just about everything else, though.
Relationships: Keefe Sencen & Biana Vacker, Sophie Foster & Keefe Sencen & Biana Vacker & Fitz Vacker, Sophie Foster/Fitz Vacker(mentioned), Sophie Foster/Keefe Sencen(implied)
Series: Way Down We Go [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2200398
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Yeah, But For The Fall

**Author's Note:**

> In this house, we do not like Alden Vacker. If you're an Alden Stan, clear out now. This fic is not for you. <3 love ya but no. 
> 
> If You, as well, are not over "The Talk," hop right in! This is the story for you! 
> 
> Remember that headcanon someone had a while back, about Fitz being a beguiler, and Alina beguiling Alden into cheating on Della with her? I said naaaawww. Unlikely. This is a kids series after all.
> 
> However.
> 
> Know what kids series still allow for?
> 
> Alden to have lied about everything.
> 
> Woo. 
> 
> Enjoy!

“Father,” Biana’s voice echoed, slightly, throughout his office, “I need to talk to you.”

He looked up from the various papers that littered his desk and smiled at his daughter. Her eyes held a dullness he had grown accustomed to seeing in them, so accustomed that he didn’t even notice it anymore. He gestured to the chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat, my dear.”

She complied, pulling her short skirts under her as she did so. “Can I ask you something?”

He dragged a hand through his hair, considering her, once, “Your mother let you wear that length of skirt?”

His daughter stiffened, just slightly. “Yes. It’s from Frills of Fire…”

“Hmm. Well. What is it, my dear?”

Biana glanced out the window, her fingers tracing at one of her scars. He watched her, wondering if Kelser Diznee had a potion that could wash away the cruel touch of the glass that now marred his daughter. She considered, for a moment, then said, “Is Fitz really my brother?”

He really ought to have known this was coming. “Of course!” he said, lightly, “Why wouldn’t he be?”

Biana rolled her shoulders in a shrug. “You hear things. Stuff about affairs and Fitz’s eyes.”

“You both have the same eyes, Biana, Doll.”

Biana shook her head. “He has beguiler eyes, Dad. You know he does. You’ve never told him, he’s never noticed, nobody’s bothered to let him in on it. But people do notice. He’s got a talent he shouldn’t. It’s a background one. A quiet one. One that only makes sense if it’s genetic.”

He quickly glanced around the room, his heart thudding too loud in his chest. The golden-green tinge of his office seemed rather unfriendly, at the moment, and he hoped his daughter wasn’t hiding an empath somewhere. Keefe, he was sure, would have been all too eager to gang up on him as of late. Someone had mentioned something, probably that Ro, about how Alden apparently “didn’t treat him right.” 

How were you supposed to treat a boy like that, he wanted to know. Keefe was so starved for affection, it was the least Alden could do to give him some. So what if he manipulated the boy once or twice. It was all for the best. It was all to protect his own children, after all. They were the most important. 

Keefe was important too, though, he settled on, mentally. Keefe was very important.

But important enough that he had to be handled with care. After all, the boy’s history was nothing short of atrocious. Alden seriously didn’t doubt that given the correct opportunities, Keefe could excel in the world, and stand exactly where he needed to. But, he also didn’t doubt that if given the opportunity to choose incorrectly, Keefe could doom them all.

So he did what Lord Cassius was supposed to do. He guided. Out of the kindness of his heart. So what if he knew exactly what to say to make Keefe understand the gravity of things, or the pressure placed upon him, or the amount of weight that rested on his poor, weak shoulders.

So what if he used his beguiling on him?

The ticket was, the beguiling was hard to disguise. Ro had noticed it, and pointed it out. He’d heard her tell Keefe that he was being manipulated. Meddlesome. Didn’t she realize that everything Alden did was for the good of all elfdom? For the good of the entire world?

He stamped out his short lived anger at the ogre princess, who apparently was immune to his secondary talent, and turned his gaze back to that of his beseeching child. She really was such a child, he decided. The same age as Sophie, practically, and a little less mature. Only seventeen.

“Dad,” she said, seriously, “People think you cheated on mom.”

“Nonsense,” He said, startled back into what their conversation had truly been about, “It has no basis in truth. There’s no reason to worry.”

Biana looked as though she had swallowed a lemon. “He’s a beguiler, Dad. There’s no point in denying it. A beguiler and a telepath. Both. He uses it all of the time, without even noticing, because no one’s ever told him. There’s a few people who are immune to it, like Dex… but Dad, no one in our family is a beguiler! There’s no way he can be your son unless--”

“I never cheated on your mother, Biana Annika Vacker. Our marriage has been a completely faithful one. There is no need to worry about anything anyone else says!”

“How!” Biana burst out, “It doesn’t make any sense! You’re a telepath, Mum’s a vanisher, Alvar and I are vanishers, Fitz is a telepath and beguiler! It doesn’t make any sense! You have to be hiding something! You had to have done something or--”

“I swear, Biana, I never was unfaithful to your mother.” He leveled his strictest glare upon her. “Do not doubt my words, child.”

She stiffened. “What proof do I have to convince me of anything, Father? I want to see his birth certificate.”  
Alden dug about in a drawer, pulled it out, and presented it to her. 

Biana scanned it, the tree outside the window’s leaves casting little flapping shadows over her. She set it back down, obviously disappointed. “How much did you have to pay to get Mum’s name on that.”

He exhaled, sharply, though his nose, “Biana, dear, Sophie’s human ways are really rubbing off on you. Don’t you know that money is not what elves desire?”

Biana scanned the sheet of official paper. “How is Mum’s name on that.”

“Because she gave birth to Fitz. How else?”

Biana gritted her teeth, something in her eyes flashing. “Tell me the truth!”

 _“There’s no need to worry, Biana,”_ and he pressed every ounce of feeling he had into that statement. He pushed all of his beguiling energy into it, just as if his daughter were the moonlark, and he was convincing her to leave well enough alone. 

Well, his beguiling never worked too well on the moonlark. She was a force to be reckoned with, and only Fitz’s beguiling could make her ever do or feel anything she didn’t already want to. It was part of the reason she was so in love with him. It was almost amusing, watching his son get so confused as to why Sophie adored him, and watch Keefe wilt every time Sophie lit up around Fitz. 

However, his daughter had a soft spot in her heart for him, just as Sophie had a soft spot in her heart for Fitz. He could tell her there was no reason to worry, and stars above, she would have to believe him. There was no other choice for her.

A harsh sound echoed through the room, and Biana stood in front of him with tears in her eyes. He clutched his cheek, shocked that his daughter had slapped him. 

“You’re a beguiler too,” she stated. 

He blinked at her, “What?”

“Remember how I said that Dex is immune to beguiling? Well, guess what. So am I. How else do you think I figured it out?”

He said nothing, just stared into the teal eyes of his daughter.

“I cannot believe you would hide a talent! That could have--”

“Oh, it has helped more than you know, Biana Vacker, and I advise you to leave things well enough alone.”

Her eyes widened. “What have you done,” her voice sounded shattered, “Who have you manipulated?”

“I haven’t manipulated anyone undeserving, and besides, he was so desperate for a kind word already, I barely had to beguile him at all--”

She hit him again, with so much vigor that he wondered if he should ground her, or something, for her terrible behavior. “Stay the hell away from my friends,” she growled, “Stay the hell away from me,” her voice shook, “Until you’re ready to come clean about how you’ve been taking advantage of people.”

She swirled around, and stormed away, slamming the office door behind her.

Honestly, Alden kind of forgot his daughter had that Vacker temper in her veins sometimes.

But he was not worried. She’d see all the good he had done.

She’d come around eventually.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing! Thank you so much for stopping by!!!
> 
> Feel free to scream at me in the comments! They make my day 100% of the time!


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